Trooper Mistake Led to Florida Crashes

A probe into the Interstate 75 accidents that killed five members of a Cobb church found no criminal violations.

A Florida Highway Patrol officer who reopened a smoke- and fog-covered portion of Interstate 75 in January did not have proper training and was not aware of procedures governing such an incident, according to an investigators' report issued Thursday.  A total of 11 people, including five members of a Cobb County church, were killed in a series of crashes on the interstate caused by the smoke and fog. But investigators from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement did not find any criminal violations. According to their report, Highway Patrol Lt. John Gourley decided to reopen the stretch of I-75 near Gainesville in the early hours of Jan. 29 despite protests from Highway Patrol Sgt. Bruce Simmons.  The highway had been closed because of a…

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Lidiane Carmo Released from Hospital

The Sprayberry freshman recovered in Florida from the critical injuries she suffered in the I-75 crash that killed her family.

Lidiane Carmo has left the hospital a month and a half after the horrific interstate pileup that killed her family. The 15-year-old freshman at Sprayberry High School was the last of 22 survivors of the Interstate 75 crashes near Gainesville, FL, Jan. 29 to leave Shands at the University of Florida hospital, the Gainesville Sun reported. She was still at the hospital Tuesday, 44 days after the accident, but was gone Thursday when the Sun checked again. Lidiane’s pastor, the Rev. Aaron Amazonas, had posted a message March 8 on Facebook that she was getting better and was just waiting to be released. He included a photo of a healthy-looking Lidiane posted by her maternal uncle, Fabio Souza. “We had some very good news about Lidiane,” …

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Friends Remember the Carmo Family

First United Methodist Church in Marietta was the venue for the visitation and funeral for three family members who died in a Jan. 29 Florida interstate crash.

Correction: Abi Lehman was the Sprayberry student who spoke in remembrance of Leticia Carmo. We apologize for the error. Hundreds of friends gathered at First United Methodist Church of Marietta on Monday afternoon to pay final respects to the Carmo family members who died last month in a Florida interstate pileup. Pastor Alda Celia of Brazil sang the Brazilian and American national anthems.  Celia and the Praise Team from Kennesaw's Victory North Church sang "Amazing Grace" and "Revelation." Among those who remembered the Carmo family and knew them through their faith were Ester Amazonas, Socorro Curtis and Pastor Jeff Hidden. Sprayberry High School student Abi Lehman is a friend of Leticia Carmo's. She and her mother spoke before the …

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Julia Harris

4:22 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Rev. Amazonas, Thank you so much for commenting. This story has touched me deeply. The tragedy suffered by the family and your church is tremendous. You are all in my prayers. There is comfort in knowing that the memories of those lost will live through Lidiane and church members.   more ›

Carmo Family Funeral Is Monday

While a Sprayberry High student recovers from a Florida car crash, services will be held for her parents and sister in Marietta.

The funeral for Kennesaw’s Carmo family will be held Monday at 4 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Marietta. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the public service will follow a visitation starting at 1:30 p.m. at the church at 56 Whitlock Ave., a little more than three miles from the small, two-year-old Brazilian-immigrant church Jose Carmo Jr. served as pastor, Igreja Internacional da Restauracao (International Church of the Restoration), located in East Marietta. Carmo; his wife, Adriana; their first daughter, Leticia, 17; his brother Edson; and Edson’s girlfriend, Roselia DeSilva, died early Jan. 29 in a pileup on fog-shrouded Interstate 75 south of Gainesville, FL. The Carmos’ younger daughter, Lidiane, survived the …

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Latin American Community Helps Lidiane Carmo

Friends, classmates and El Patron 105.3 Radio raised funds for Lidiane Carmo over the weekend.

Latin American community members recently gathered at Palateria Michoacana Ice Cream Shop in Marietta to raise funds for 15-year-old Lidiane Carmo of Kennesaw, a Sprayberry High School student who was injured in a Florida pileup that killed her parents and 17-year-old sister. Saturday's event was organized by friends and classmates of the Brazil native with the help of 105.3 El Patron, and was documented in a photo gallery and video posted by the popular Spanish radio station. Photos show community members donating money and buying grilled corn on the cob, fried snacks and other foods to support Lidiane. In the video, which is in Spanish, Sprayberry student and fundraiser organizer Soledad Fuentes says she learned about the crash that …

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PatchCast

Lassiter Swim Champions; Carmo Vigil; Jay Ingram Remembered

Leading the PatchCast headlines is the Lassiter Swim and Dive team.

Click the links below to read more about stories featured in today's PatchCast: Lassiter Swim and Dive County Champions Carmo Vigil Draws Hundreds Community Remembers Jay Ingram

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Candlelight Vigil for Carmo Family

The Cobb victims of a Florida interstate pileup will be remembered at Sprayberry High School Wednesday night.

A tangle of immigration and financial issues has grown around the Cobb victims of last Sunday's Florida interstate tragedy.  But tonight, the three Carmo family members who perished, and the surviving daughter who remains in critical condition, will be remembered at a candlelight vigil.  Cobb Schools spokesman Doug Goodwin said in a statement late Wednesday morning that the vigil will take place at 7 p.m. at in Northeast Cobb.  That's where 15-year-old Lidiane Carmo, still hospitalized in Florida, is a freshman. Her father, Pastor Jose Carmo, her mother, Adriana, and Lidiane's sister, Leticia, 17, also a Sprayberry student, were killed early Sunday morning when the van in which they were riding was involved in a multiple-vehicle pileup on …

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